Psychology: Personality Development Theory

Most of Sigmund Freud's theories are over 100 years old. Over time, his theories have sparked controversy and disagreement. Some have stood the test of time. Freud is regarded as one of the most important and influential thinkers of the last century. While most modern academics believe he was wrong about many things, his concepts of the unconscious, his method of free association, defense mechanisms, and the processes of talk therapy and psychoanalysis indisputably contributed to our understanding of the human psyche and personality.

1) Discuss how the psychodynamic, genetic, or humanist approaches have contributed to our understanding of personality.

2) What important contributions did these theories make to behavioral science?

3) Explain and evaluate key concepts and contributions.

4) Gordon Allport, Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow, Sigmund Freud, and Carl Jung were the most influential psychologists of this era. Briefly discuss how each of these five contribute to the development of their theory? Be sure to include specific examples

Use scholarly sources to support your answers. Use APA format to cite your sources. Make sure to include in-text citations and a reference list as appropriate.

Limit the use of direct quotes, and do your best to critically evaluate and synthesize the literature in your own words wherever possible.

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1) The genetic approach has contributed to our understanding of personality, due to the fact that this approach has provided us with a great deal of evidence linking the genetics that an individual has inherited, to their personality development. In essence, this approach has enlightened the scientific world with pertinent information that explains how genetics helps to determine brain formation, development, and capacity, which has a tremendous bearing on the type of personality that is displayed by an individual. This genetic approach helps us to understand that certain types of personalities can be found to be very common in certain families, which makes it possible to predict the kinds of personalities that their offspring would have.

Include a thorough and comprehensive description of Positive Psychology including a critical analysis.
Finally, provide your understanding of how Positive Psychology can be integrated with recent developments in personality traits and theory.

Back in the 1970â??s two research teams (Paul Costa and Robert McCrae
(National Institutes of Health), and Warren Norman ( University of
Michigan)/Lewis Goldberg ( University of Oregon)) discovered that most
human personality traits can be boiled down to five broad dimensions of
personality, regardless of language or cultu

Identify one of the theorists presented and discuss their contributions to your understanding of the "development of personality". How does this help you understand human behavior? These theorists include: Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, Carl Jung, Karen Horney, Abraham Maslow, and Carl Rogers.

How different are the personality theories, really?
Might they all be integrated into one theoretical framework?
Or, did they seem to differ fundamentally perhaps because they differed in the aspects of personality that they were trying to explain?

Original student enquiry:
"How can a theory be reliable or consistent over time if personality is believed to change?"
A discussion on the reliability of theories in the context of personality changes.